Left Behind
by Sunshine Depression
Summary: A short fic about when Axel found that WINNER stick Roxas left behind. I know that it's not terribly original material, but I couldn't get it out of my head.


So, I know that this isn't terribly original, but it was something I had to get out. Also, it's really short. I don't have much time for anything nowadays (remember, friends don't let friends do IB), but this popped into my head and I couldn't get it out. I might go back and fix some things later, or maybe take it down, but I felt like I should give this story a chance. Thanks for reading!

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"How did this happen?"

Axel lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. How did any of it happen? Roxas coming into his life, making everything more difficult, and more enjoyable, and more… he didn't want to use the word "painful" for fear of overstating his reasonably crippled emotional capacity, but it was the one word that came to mind. How had he let himself become "friends" with someone, when being a Nobody seemed to be more about letting relationships drift apart, and not knit closer together? How had all those days, laughing at the clock tower, eating ice cream in the perpetual sunset, sharing missions, even come to pass?

How were they all gone so quickly, leaving only ghostlike memories behind?

And even those memories were shaky. Axel was sure that there was another one there with them, a girl, but he couldn't quite grasp her name. Every time he tugged at the corners of his memory, the idea of her eluded him, like wisps of smoke through his fingers. He had shared an important moment with her just recently, he knew that. He had been angry. Yelled at her. And yet he couldn't remember what he was yelling, or why. Everything he'd childishly thought would last was crumbling around him, even his memories, which he had been _sure_ would last for as long as he did. There was no sense of sureness anymore, not in anything. He already missed it.

As Axel turned his head to face the darkness outside his window, something caught his eye. A corner of white paper stuck out from under his bed. Axel knew that he hadn't left anything there, and met the sight with a mixture of surprise and mild irritation. Who had been in his room without permission? It wasn't as though he had anything of personal value in there; he wasn't a person, and he didn't have anything he valued, or at least, not anymore. Still, the idea of someone invading his space bothered him. He climbed off the bed and pulled at the white corner to see what kind of gift the intruder had left him.

It was a white envelope, plain, unmarked, and lightweight. It didn't feel as though it held anything, and Axel almost considered casting it to the side as garbage. However, his curiosity overcame him, and he lifted the flap and shook the envelope's contents into his gloved hand. A wooden stick, the kind that sea-salt ice cream came on, tumbled onto his palm. At its base was printed a stylized picture of a crown and the word "WINNER". There wasn't a doubt in Axel's mind that it came from Roxas.

The message escaped him. Was this supposed to be some kind of a joke? Some sort of irony? Having lost everything, WINNER was the last word Axel would have used to describe himself. Was Roxas mocking him? That wasn't the type of thing that Roxas would do, or it didn't seem like it. Then again, Axel never thought that Roxas would have left the Organization like that. Left _him_ like that. But the idea of Roxas mocking his situation didn't sit quite right. So was it an inspirational message of some sort? No… that didn't seem right, either. Axel figured that Roxas must have left it behind as some sort of a symbol, a reminder of the days at the clock tower.

Thinking about it, Axel almost gave a morose smile. It was kind of a symbol of their friendship. He had, after all, explained to Roxas that friends were people who laughed with each other and ate ice cream together. For all his zombie-staring and serious speaking, Roxas was hardly more than a child, and had probably childishly assumed that ice cream was one of the key elements of friendship. Then again, Axel hadn't been able to come up with a better explanation, so maybe he was something of a child, too. A child who wasn't ready to let go.

The idea of Roxas sliding the envelope under his bed before he left the castle for good brought a strange, bitter sensation to Axel's throat, and the word pain came to mind again, however inaccurate. He slipped the ice cream stick into his pocket. Even if it was a childish misunderstanding, it was still all that he had left of Roxas.

WINNER.

He didn't feel like much of one.


End file.
